Children overboard toy 'offensive'

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A bath toy that satirises the children overboard affair and was being sold on the internet to benefit a Greens candidate has been withdrawn after being criticised as sick and insensitive.

The toy - a wooden boat with figurines of John Howard and asylum-seeker children that could be thrown into the bath - was offered by the website johnnybackflip.com for $19.

Profits from its sale were being directed to the campaign of the Greens candidate for Bennelong, former senior intelligence officer Andrew Wilkie.

By yesterday afternoon, it was withdrawn from sale at his request.

Earlier Mr Wilkie, who quit his job, claiming the war in Iraq was based on flawed intelligence, condemned the toy, saying he had no knowledge of those behind it and would not accept any profits from its sale.

The website likened the toy to the SIEV X boat, which sank drowning 353 asylum seekers. It said: "Re-create history as only Johnny tells it. Quality SIEV X style bath boat with detachable children. Complete with little Johnny that can also be thrown overboard."

Mr Wilkie said he understood why the sale of the toy had generated concern, particularly as patron of the "Jannah the SIEV X Memorial".

The website said any profits would be donated to Mr Wilkie's campaign but it was not affiliated with him or the Greens. "In fact we have never met the bloke, but his actions speak of a character strength and honesty, sadly deficient within current politics," it said.

The toy's creator and website manager, Ben Palmer, said he removed the toy from sale after a request from Mr Wilkie because there was "not point in causing him grief" but he felt those criticising the toy were overreacting.

He said the toy was based on a "fictitious event" - the Government's claims that children were thrown overboard from an asylum-seeker boat.

Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett said the toy was offensive and its sale should be stopped. "In light of the fact that hundreds of asylum seekers, including 146 children, drowned when the SIEV X boat sank in October 2001, the marketing of this toy is appalling and offensive and should be stopped immediately," he said.

Refugee advocate Marion Le called it "obscene and offensive" and said it trivialised a very serious matter.